Conventionally, the power supply plays a key role in maintaining a stable and normal operation of a computer. Moreover, many computer components or peripherals (e.g., hard disk drive, CPU, CD-R, etc.) have a demand for high electricity quality (i.e., stable power supply) as technology makes progress rapidly. It is understood that an unstable power can lower the performance of a power supply and its connected equipment. Failure of an AC power source can cause, for example, a computer to shut down suddenly and losing the data that a user is working on. This is not desirable and is even disastrous in certain cases.
For solving the problem caused by a power outage, a conventional backup power supply is available. The power supply comprises a plurality of parallel powers. As such, the power supply can continue providing electricity to an electronic device in the event of a power failure of any one of them (i.e., operative powers continue providing electricity). A power supply can be classified as a DC/DC power connected to a DC power source and an AC/DC power connected to an AC power source based on the form of electricity conversion.
In one example, an available backup power supply comprises a plurality of parallel AC/DC powers connected to an AC power source. As such, the power supply can continue providing electricity to an electronic device in the event of a power failure of any one of them (i.e., operative powers continue providing electricity). However, all powers will stop operating immediately if the power failure is not caused by the malfunctioning of one power but due to interrupt an external power source. For solving this problem, many types of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) are available. The UPS can continuously provide electricity to an electronic device (e.g., a computer) in the event of a power failure. Unfortunately, however, the computer may stop operating immediately and lose the data that a user was working on. This is because the startup time of a UPS is relatively longer than the time required for maintaining a normal operation of a computer. That is, it is typical for a user to restart the computer in response to the power outage. This really bothers computer users.
In another example, an available backup power supply comprises a plurality of parallel DC/DC powers connected to a DC power source. The DC power source is comprised of a plurality of rechargeable batteries. As compared with an AC power source, a user may regularly charge the batteries in consideration of the power consumption of a connected electronic device (e.g., computer). However, electrical charge storing capability of a battery may lower gradually as the times of use increases. It is often that the determination of the capacity of a battery by a user is not correct. In one example, a consumed battery cannot maintain a normal operation of a computer. Moreover, the battery capacity is limited. A user has to continually buy many batteries for maintaining a normal operation of a computer. This is a huge investment and is not cost effective.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a novel backup power supply system in order to overcome the above drawbacks of prior art.